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Maurice Jones-Drew trade talk surfaces

ESPN says he's open to it, but agent won't comment

Bob.Mack@jacksonville.com As Maurice Jones-Drew's holdout continues, Jaguars owner Shad Khan said, "The train is leaving the station." Meanwhile, Jones-Drew's agent said he wants to play for a team that values him.

Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew’s holdout has now lasted 27 days, and it might last a lot longer.

In the wake of comments by owner Shad Khan that he held a meeting with Jones-Drew and the holdout isn’t of great concern to him, it won’t be a surprise if Jones-Drew is still holding out when the regular season opens on Sept. 9 in Minnesota.

Khan followed up his previous remarks by saying Tuesday, “The train is leaving the station. Run. Get on it.”

That led to a series of electronically altered pictures on Twitter of Khan driving a train, while Jones-Drew was standing in the station.

Jones-Drew’s agent, Adisa Bakari, said Tuesday that Jones-Drew expected that his talks with Khan would remain “private and confidential.”

ESPN personnel tweeted that Jones-Drew is now open to a trade. Bakari declined to comment on whether Jones-Drew is open to a trade, saying that Jones-Drew, “loves being a Jaguar, but he wants to play for an organization that values him.”

Khan declined to address whether the Jaguars would trade Jones-Drew if he missed the season.

“I’m not going to get into all the theses and hypotheses,” Khan said. “He’s a great player. We’d love to have him back.

“Well, I can’t dictate any player playing,” Khan added. “It’s a personal choice players have to make.”

The holdout is the result of a fundamental difference between the two sides.

Jones-Drew, who earned $21.8 million in the first year of his five year deal, wants an increase in the $9.4 million he is schedule to make the next two years. The Jaguars, by contrast, are refusing to tear up that contract and want him to play it out.

“Believe me, on a zero-to-10 level of stress, this doesn’t even move the needle,” he said.

In the Jaguars’ two preseason victories, starting running back Rashad Jennings has averaged a little more than 5 yards per carry. But Khan said Jennings’ success hasn’t affected the Jaguars’ position on Jones-Drew.

“You don’t make decisions based on what somebody else is doing,” Khan said.

Khan also addressed the impact on the Jaguars of missing one of their star players.

“Pretty soon there are 53 players, and as far as I’m concerned, they are all stars,” Khan said. “Every one of them is going to contribute. This is not a team by one person. This is a team by [53] people.”